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Topic: Massive hive in house (Read 3420 times)

Just checked out a potential removal ten minutes from home, right across from a Lowe's. Entrance is near top of chimney under a capstone where the chimney narrows from 4 feet to 2 feet wide. No bees in the flu. I figured on removing the capstone and if necessary, some bricks to remove the hive. I quoted the tenant $400. THEN I checked more thoroughly inside the house. Bees are coming into the living room between the floor and wooden fireplace mantle. I could easily hear a mass of bees humming and buzzing in several locations of the wall next to and above the fireplace, and in the mantle itself! The floor is approximately 18 feet down from the entrance the bees are using. It appears that the colony found a gap in the brick and extended the nest down inside the wall. I have a feeling this is like one of those hives you see on the news, with a couple hundred pounds of honey in the wall! The homeowner rents out the house, and isn't too pleased about paying to remove it. The tenant told me she will move out if he doesn't!! And, she said if he just sprays them, she is out of there! I withdrew the quote and told her I need to "tweak" the price a bit before she gives it to her landlord!I may need some help if I get this job! :-D

Don't expect to get the bees out from only one area. I'm betting there are 2 to 4 hives in there. There's no way I would tackle that one without an open end price. You may be there for days.

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Talked to the homeowner this afternoon. He seems resigned to the fact that the hive needs to be removed and it is going to be expensive. I told him the living room walls shouldn't be too bad :roll:, but the chimney has us both concerned. The bees are in the wide portion of the chimney that doesn't have a flue. I don't know if they have comb going all the way down, or if they are just using it as a transportation route to the wall. I don't know yet how much open space is inside that part of a chimney. I guess I will find out when I remove the topcap. If there is comb all the way down, does anyone have any removal ideas without tearing apart the whole chimney? The living room can be handled by opening the wall as needed by the fireplace, in the closet, and by removing the wooden ornamental mantel. I hope they aren't in the ceiling, as well! :shock:

Could you detail the construction a little better? I would like to help but not knowing whether the fireplace is masonry w/terra cotta flue or modern insert firebox with metal flue pipe or whether the structure is balloon or plate construction I cannot get a grip on how a single colony can span 18' of wall. It is absolutely possible as my largest removal extended 16' into a structure between two ceiling joists. Pics would be a great help.

Good luck with this one. My first removal was in a 30X30" brick column, 8 foot tall. We started by cutting the mortar between the bricks to save the bricks for repair. We cut 6 layers and then started removing them. Be sure to wash the cement dust as you go especially before you start vacuuming. I lost several pounds of bees in the first vac box due the cement dust. I was afraid the hive went all the way down the column. It turned out the brick layers were paid by the brick and filled in the column with bricks. That was good for the home owner, plenty of new bricks to repair the column. Jim

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No. She wants them gone ASAP. Plus, with a colony this big and spread out, their pollen supply would outlast the time available for a trapout. And then there is the amout of honey left in the walls. The interior removal will be a big job, but do-able. It is the chimney that has me concerned.

Well, the tenant called me today. She said her landlord decided that he is going to have an exterminator treat the colonies with Sevin dust! After all the info I gave him, and even emailed JP's post-spray video, and the tenant threatening to move out, he still goes this route. I told her to tell him that if he calls me after they are poisoned, that the price is doubled, IF I even come out! As spread out and as large as this colony (colonies) is (are), I feel there is no way that his way is going to work. And then there is still the issue of all the mess left in the walls. I can't help but be totally angry off about this!! :-x

Had a similiar call the other day. I was going to remove a swarm for free, however was called back with them telling me they had spray bombed the bees. When the bees they didnt kill come back out of the wall, they can call someone else cuz I'm not going to touch it.

Talked to the tenant yesterday. The "exterminator" didn't show up. She talked to her landlord and he is postponing it until he "puts together a plan", whatever that means. Maybe he'll have a change of heart and let me remove them after all.